But their best instrumental slots in the latter. Since the beginning of their reign as two of rap’s greatest creative minds, the Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo proved to be masters of both minimalism ( Clipse’s “Grindin’”) and maximalism ( Gwen Stefani‘s colossal “Hollaback Girl”). Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell, “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” produced by The Neptunes Some have become outdated, but the one that still sounds the most like the year 3000 was given to Jay Z for his classic “N-a What, N-a Who?” With its strobe synths and stuttering drums, Timbo provides a sonic template with pockets of silence that Jay fills with a constantly shifting meter. Timbaland has always had a genius knack for crafting beats that sound like they’re from the future. Jay Z featuring Amil and Jaz-O, “N-a What, N-a Who?,” produced by Timbaland

That rat-a-tat snare breakdown is the probably most copied drum fill in recent memory.ĩ. Nothing more than a hypnotically repetitive patois vocal sample (from a ridiculously obscure Tribe Called Quest remix) over an 808 drum kit, it’s ridiculously simple, but you could freestyle over it endlessly. Perhaps the most influential beat of the 21st century, this Bangladesh banger single-handedly started a new wave of trap that took the early innovations of Atlanta cats like Shawty Redd and DJ Toomp to the future. Lil Wayne, “A Milli,” produced by Bangladesh

Read on for our countdown of the top 10 hip-hop beats of all time.ġ0. Dre - who have minted the best beats in the genre’s history. Since hip-hop’s inception, producers spanning The Bomb Squad and J Dilla to Just Blaze and Kanye West have crafted instrumentals that have stood the test of time, but none more so than a handful of premier craftsmen - DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Dr. See the All-Time Charts: Billboard 200 Albums | Billboard 200 Artists | Hot 100 Songs | Hot 100 ArtistsĬreating the perfect beat is a combined matter of timing, creative genius and just the right rapper to complement it.

Trap rap instrumentals